Australian Department oF Foreign Affairs and Trade Press Release

MT102

13 July 1995

COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY TALKS

The Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Senator Bob McMullan, said today that a high level delegation of Australian officials would leave Australia on 15 July for consultations with governments of the five declared nuclear weapon states and Japan on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The initiative for the CTBT mission arose from the Government's decision on 22 June to adopt a package of measures in response to France's decision to resume nuclear testing in the South Pacific. The mission will argue the case for a strong and effective Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and will urge that the negotiating process for the treaty be accelerated.

Senator McMullan said that early conclusion of a CTBT was a longstanding policy goal for Australia, and one which has been made more pressing by France's decision to resume testing in the South Pacific.

"Australia played a leading role in brokering the original mandate for the negotiations, and we have contributed actively to the negotiating process," said Senator McMullan.

Senator McMullan said that Australia had tabled a comprehensive set of draft Treaty elements and accompanying explanatory notes in March 1994, and had also made a significant contribution to the development of the verification system through expert input in the seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide fields.

"The mission will press the nuclear weapon states on prospects for overcoming existing impediments to progress in the negotiations, and ways of bridging negotiating positions," Senator McMullan said. "In particular, the mission will be examining ways to reach early agreement on the scope of the Treaty, as well as on a range of legal and institutional, and verification issues, including entry into force provisions, the composition of the Executive Council of the CTBT Organisation, funding for an international monitoring system, and a conceptual approach to on-site inspections", said Senator McMullan.

Senator McMullan said that, in addition to visiting Washington, London, Paris, Moscow and Beijing, the mission would also visit Geneva, the location of the CTBT negotiations, and Tokyo. "Japan and Australia share the same objectives with regard to the CTBT", he said.

Senator McMullan also said that Australia's Ambassador to France, Mr Alan Brown, would be returning to Paris to enable him to participate in the mission's discussions with French officials.

The mission will be led by Mr Kim Jones, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It will also include Australia's Ambassador for Disarmament, Mr Richard Starr, who is based in Geneva.